There were periods - including the chaotic transition of power from G. #JuliusCaesar to his adopted son #Octavianus, later Caesar '#Augustus' - during which the crown was passed on directly to an heir, but a lot of time it was through cliques and patronage.

NEVERTHELESS - for many years between the kicking-out-on-his-ass of #Tarquinius the ex-Rex, Rome would mark the Regifugium as a celebration of democracy and the power of people over the tyranny of royal rule.